tsumabukis's PhotoBlog

Red Dragon

2009-06-28T00:45:03Z

Soneto sa Tutubi by Ezzard R. Gilbang Tutubi, tutubi, bakit ka naligaw, sa bakal na suhay, sa tansong kalabaw, iskwater na burol, look na imburnal, amihang may usok na itim ang kulay? Tutubi, tutubi, huwag kang dadapo, sa patay na pusang nabasag ang bungo, sa luray na tiklis, sa usli ng pako, sa lawit na taling may pagkit at baho! Tutubi, tutubi, nais bang magbalik sa lawang dalisay ang bulong ng tubig, sa dahong luntiang may ugoy sa ihip ng hanging may dapyong kaytamis ng awit? At kapag pakpak mo’y hapo na at ngawit, mata mo’y ipikit, mangarap ng langit.

Leaving the Pinatubo Crater/Lake

2009-05-04T14:15:34Z

Mount Pinatubo (wiki)

At the Pinatubo Crater/Lake

2009-05-04T14:11:58Z

Mount Pinatubo (wiki)

Path to Pinatubo Crater/Lake

2009-05-04T14:09:32Z

Mount Pinatubo (wiki)

Northern Luzon - Marco and Chee-Anne Unofficial Prenup photo

2008-09-02T06:19:57Z

My small contribution to the Marco and Chee-Anne prenup photo shoot... Best wishes in advance!

Northern Luzon - Yasmin Coles as...

2008-09-02T05:56:15Z

Northern Luzon - In Between Days

2008-09-01T02:41:35Z

Here are some more shots that were taken on the way to, or while waiting to get to, each site in the itinerary... They could not belong in the other entries. But they deserve to be seen nonetheless...

Northern Luzon - Day 3 (PM) : St. Augustine Church (Paoay, Ilocos Norte)

2008-09-01T02:02:14Z

Paoay The church was started by the Augustinian Fr. Antonio Estavillo in 1694. It was completed in 1710 and rededicated in 1896, just three years before the expulsion of Spanish rule in the country. The style of the church has been dubbed “Earthquake Baroque” by Alicia Coseteng, one of the early authorities on colonial church architecture. Because the buttresses extend out considerably from the exterior walls, the entire visual experience becomes three-dimensional, unlike most of the churches in the country where the inherent beauty of the church is limited only at the facade. The buttresses are a visual spectacle. One can easily imagine them as giant sentinels poised to protect the church from adversaries. The rhythmic flow of massive form cascading down from the pinnacles to the ground, emphasized by spiral relieves visible on each side of the buttresses, alludes to a Baroque character. Yet, the dark receding plaster and exposed coral stone wall, complete with foliage overgrowth, creates a momentary feeling of being in some exotic Javanese temple. The materials used for the walls were a mixture of coral stone and bricks. Large coral stones were used at the lower level of the walls, while bricks, smaller and more manageable to transport, were used at the upper levels. The facade of the church, even as it is beginning to lean towards the front, still manages to be as equally impressive as the buttresses. Viewed from the side, the giant buttresses look like huge volutes making the facade appear as a massive pediment rising from the ground. The facade is divided vertically by square pilasters that extend from the ground and all the way to the top of the pediment. The Gothic affinity of the church is suggested by the vertical movement of the pilasters and the finials that cap them at the top of the pediment. The facade is also divided horizontally by stringed cornices that extend all the way to the edges. The cornices extend to the sides of the church and wrap each buttresses around, adding attention and articulation to the massive side supports. At the apex is a niche, while the otherwise stark plaster finish is embellished with crenallations, niches, rosettes, and the Augustinian coat-of-arms. The facade is complemented with a belltower located at its right hand side. Belltowers are a very important element in the overall composition of colonial churches, both for its function and aesthetics. For practical purposes, belltowers were used as a communication device to the townspeople. In the case of the Paoay belltower, it also played, ironically, an explicit role in the lives of the Filipinos during the war.

Northern Luzon - Day 2 (PM) : Windmills (Bangui, Ilocos Norte)

2008-09-01T01:32:53Z

The Bangui Wind Mills were built by the NorthWind Power Development Corporation to take its share in reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) causing global warming and to accelerate the rural electrification of the goverment. The 'Wind Farm" as it is aptly called consist of 20 (5 were added as of June 2008 in completion of Phase II of the NorthWind power project) wind turbines. The turbines are on-shore and arranged in a single row spaced 326 meters apart. The turbines hub height (ground level to center of nacelle - that part holding the blades) is 70 meters high, each blade is 41 meters long giving a rotor diameter of 82 meters and a wind swept area of 5,281 square meters. In Bangui, erecting the windmills was among the last and shortest step involved in the long process of the project. It began in 1999, when NorthWind was formed by Danish and Filipino engineers and investors. NorthWind set up meteorological towers in Bangui and collected data about wind behavior in the area. The group, led by Danish businessman Niels Jacobsen, then worked to secure loans and permits for the project. The wind farm was built under the build-operate-and-own scheme, via a $40-million loan from the Danish Development Agency (DANIDA). NorthWind built two wharves to accommodate the landing of the gigantic windmill parts. But the waves of Bangui’s coastline were so rough it took NorthWind five months — from October 2004 to February 2005 — before it was finally able to offload all the equipment at the site. The project sailed smoothly from then on, as it took the company just two months to install the windmills and lay the cables connecting them to the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) grid. On May 8, 2005, NorthWind began delivering power to INEC. Thus began the operation of the Bangui wind farm.

Northern Luzon - Day 1 (PM) : Calvary Hills (Iguig, Cagayan)

2008-09-01T02:15:44Z

The Spanish encomienderos that came to Iguig were well impressed by the friendliness displayed by the natives of the place and their willingness to embrace Christianity. In honor of the towns chieftain who was popularly called "Ig", the Spanish authorities named it Iguig. Fray Ambrocio dela Madre de Dios, O.P. and Fray Juan Layba, O.P. spearheaded the ground-breaking ceremony in the construction of the first parish church in the area. The first three churches built were washed away by great floods. And finally the fourth was built on a high hill where it is now with San Tiago as patron saint. The Ilokanos begin to settle in Iguig in the early part of the year 1608. A cholera epidemic in 1898 decimated the population and a conflagration reduced to ashes almost all the houses in the town. During the outbreak of the second World War, the people fled to the hills. The municipal officials who refused to serve the Japanese government went to Tuao where the Resistance Government of Governor Marcelo Adduru was functioning. After the wartime, the evacuees returned to their homes and started a new life. The struggle to rehabilitate was eased by war damage payments. Today, Iguig, though only a small town, is conspicous to commuters along the Maharlika Highway with its great land markers: the Iguig historic centuries-old parish church on the hill and the popular tourist attraction, the Iguig Calvary in which the 14 Stations of the Cross are depicted in life-size concrete monuments; the mildew-coated Rectory well constructed in 1768 which was then the only source of drinking water and the brick stairway to the west of the church. This stairway was used for visiting Spanish dignitaries who travelled aboard barangays (banca) which plied up and down the river.